


Discovering Love

by yOuArEdEd



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hurt Lance (Voltron), I like to hurt my boy then give him all the love, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance Protection Squad, Multi, Protective Hunk (Voltron), Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Pidge | Katie Holt, Protective Shiro (Voltron), he deserves it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-02-29 13:24:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18779149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yOuArEdEd/pseuds/yOuArEdEd
Summary: Lance McClain has been used and abused for a long time, until he took the risk and escaped. He runs into Keith and Shiro and, well, Lance has to learn that there are good people out there.





	1. Chapter

Keep running.

Those were the only words flashing through his mind. 

Keep running.

They'll catch up if he slows down. He knows they aren't far behind. He can feel the drugs kicking in but he couldn't stop. He had to fight it. His legs were beginning to burn, the rest of the pain seemed to fade. All the cuts and bruises, all just a memory replaced by the burning of his legs.

Keep running.

He feels his limbs begin to go numb. It won't be long until the drugs knock him out but he knows he has to keep fighting. He can hear the voices getting closer. He can hear the pounding of their feet. There aren't even that many but to him it was more than the nine men chasing after him. His vision begins to blur. 

_No, no, no, no, no! Keep running._

He can't go back. He just can't! He sees an alley way and decides it was best for him to try and hide.  He picks up his speed and turns out of their sights. Their nasty, greedy, angry,  _hungry_ sights. He feels the stinging of his eyes.

He thought that would be the end of any interaction with any more people- at least for the night. He was wrong. Oh, so terribly wrong. When he turned into that alley he ran right into- not one- but two people. He stumbles back from the impact but their hands grab his arms before falling back. He hears sounds coming from the two men in front of him but he's more focused on the voices of his chasers, the two's voices nothing but murmurs. 

He feels his whole body go limp. He knows he couldn't escape. His chest hurts and his legs burn. His whole body seems to be on fire but numbed due to the drugs in his system. It's an uncomfortable feeling. His eyelids become heavy but he doesn't fight anymore. He knows he's been caught. There's no point in trying to escape now. He was so close to freedom. So  _close._  Now he has to go back to that dreaded market. 

Weeks of planning his escape. Weeks of dreaming of breathing fresh air. Weeks of false hope. He can't see the person holding him up or the other hovering above them. He doesn't need to see to know he's about to be given back. His vision is too blurry and begins to darken. He feels a tear roll down the side of his face as he slips out of consciousness. So close...  
  


\----------------------------------  
  


First thing he notices is warmth. He's warm for the first time in a long time. He slowly opens his eyes and groans. He's sore all over. Was he used again? 

Then memories come flooding back from last night. He tried escaping. He succeeded at first but then he was caught? 

He looks around. The place he is in is an actual room. Not some side room. He's in a bed, a comfy bed with blankets and pillows and everything. Is he dreaming? No. If he was he wouldn't be in pain. That's when he noticed all the bandages on him. Over every cut he has. 

He begins to panic. Where was he? Who 'rented' him this time? How come he isn't being punished? Locked to chains on a wall, being beaten until he can't breath? His hands shake, his head starts spinning, and his breathing picks up. 

He flips the blanket off of him, his skin automatically getting goosebumps. He stumbles out of bed but falls to the ground with a loud  _thump_  and a yelp coming out of his mouth. He looks down at his ankle and sees that it, too, had been wrapped. It was sprained. 

His shaking becomes uncontrollable when he hears voices and quick footsteps towards the room he was in. His body stuck in place as the door opens up and two people walk in.

One was tall and bulky. Very muscular. His hair styled in an undercut with a tuft of white hair up front, the rest black. He had a square jaw and a scar going across his face, crossing over the bridge of nose. He looked to have his right arm replaced by a prosthetic. He had piercing, brown eyes. He was the first to notice the frightened, wide-eyed person on the ground.

The second man was smaller than the other one but still muscular. Not as muscular but he still had enough to probably break a bone easily. This one's hair was a mullet but he somehow managed to pull it off. His features were more sharp. His deep violet eyes finally flicked over to the male.

They both were unmistakably hot. Both were unmistakably intimidating, however. They both walked up to the trembling boy on the ground. Both their faces softened in an attempt to comfort him. It didn't work too well. The guy with the scar crouched down and held out his hand, the other standing still with crossed arms.

"Hey, hey," the scarred man spoke quietly. "It's okay. We won't hurt you. Promise. We just want to help." He held out his hand farther. The frightened male shakily put his hand on top of the offered hand. The other male smiled and gently wrapped his hand around the smaller hand. "I'm Shiro."

"Keith," the second man spoke up suddenly. The other two hadn't noticed but he, too, crouched down and held a finger-less gloved hand out. He put his hand down on his hand, too. 

"Lance," he speaks softly. Shiro and Keith look at each other then back at Lance. They both stand up, bringing the other up with them. Lance leaned on his good foot. The two older males still held Lance's hands.

"You're name is Lance," Keith questions, getting a nod from Lance. "That's a nice name."

Lance couldn't help but blush at that. When did someone compliment his name before? Keith and Shiro chuckled at him.

"Don't get him all nervous, Keith. More than he already is." Lance removes his hands from their grasps, pulling them to his chest. What was going on? Who were these people exactly? What did they want? Was he going to be hurt? Sold again?

Practically smelling his anxiety Keith places his hand on Lance's shoulder in a reassuring way. "We aren't going to hurt you. We'll make sure no one else hurts you either." Shiro nods in agreement. 

Lance didn't trust them. How could he after years of people abusing and using him? He keeps his gaze on the floor knowing better than to look at people when he was a piece of trash. No. Worse than trash. Trash was no doubt better than Lance. 

He knew why he was here. Their words not quiet registering in the younger's head, he asked the question. "What do you want me to do?"

"What," both men responded at the same time. Lance glanced at them before looking back to the floor. Why are they acting like they don't know what he's asking? Lance took a careful, slow step forward.

"What do you want me to do? I'm yours to be used however you wish." The silence following his statement made Lance uncomfortable. Well, more than he already was.

"What are you talking about," Keith asks. The smaller of the three looked up and swallowed.

"You bought me. You can do whatever you want to me," he says.

"Lance, we didn't-," Shiro starts, "we didn't buy you." Lance looked up, confused.

"What?"

"We didn't buy you," he repeats. Lance takes a step back.

"You... you didn't?" The other two shake their heads slowly. "I don't- then- I- what?"

Shiro and Keith share a look of- sadness? No. That can't be right. Why would they be sad? But why wasn't he bought? If he wasn't bought, what were they going to do with him? Who were these people? Should he be scared? He hadn't realized but Lance started to shake again. Shiro slowly walked up to him. He put a cautious hand to Lance's shoulder.

"Lance? I-it's okay. Don't be scared. We won't do anything to you. Here- come sit down." Shiro led Lance to the bed and sat him down. Lance just let him. Didn't even try resisting while he watched the two men. The other two pulled a chair in front of Lance and sat in them. "Can we- can we ask you a few questions?"

Lance wanted to shake his head no. He didn't want to tell them anything. He wanted to scream and run away. Wanted to be able to live a life he wasn't able to. He just wanted to be free. Instead, he nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact with either of them. Keith was the first to ask a question.

"What were you doing last night?"

Lance didn't want to give the exact answer. Be as vague as he could. "Running," he said.

"That's not what I mean," Keith snapped. Lance flinched and looked down at his hands. He felt like crying. Shiro hit Keith's shoulder.

"Why were you running?" Lance found that Shiro was nicer than Keith when he asked. His tone was so gentle and oddly Lance wanted to spill everything to him. 

"I wanted to." That technically wasn't a lie. He wanted to run and for the longest time.

Keith spoke again but this time with the same kind of voice as Shiro. "Why?"

"To get away."

"From," Shiro pressed.

"From-," Lance began but felt his throat close up. He didn't want to say. He began to tear up.

"From those men," Keith asked- more like stated- softly. Lance was still the whole time but when Keith said that his shoulders started shaking. He tried to stop his tears from falling. He nodded and choked on a sob.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and quickly wiped the tears. He flinched when the chairs moved. Both Shiro and Keith were by his side and hugged him. Lance's breath hitched and started crying more. When was the last time he was hugged? "I'm s-sorry," he whispered again. Keith just shook his head. 

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Shiro said. Lance cried even harder. Why were they so nice? They stayed hugging until Lance calmed down. Keith pulled away but grabbed Lance's hand and Shiro did the same. "I think that's enough questions for now."


	2. Chapter 2

Keith and Shiro led Lance downstairs to the kitchen. When Lance walked through the door he smelled really good food being cooked.

"Hey, where's our favorite chef? We have a guest who needs some food," Shiro yelled into the kitchen.

"I'll be right there!"

Keith leaned a bit closer to Lance. "He's a fantastic cook. He'll make you the best breakfast you have ever tasted."

Lance just gave him a small smile then looked back at the ground. He doubted that. The best food he had ever tasted was from some one he knew and came to like a while back. He was sent to a man's house and there was a cook there.

The cook didn't like it there at all and Lance couldn't blame him. The two became close and would be around each other as much as possible. As the man gave Lance food he would tell him he would leave this place soon after Lance was meant to leave.

Lance had hoped with all of what was left of his heart the man was out of there.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! I got your food right-- Lance?"

Lance whipped his head up and felt tears in his eyes. His hopes were answered as he saw the same man standing just a few feet away.

"Hunk!" Without thinking Lance ran straight to the chef as soon as the plates were put down. He leapt into his arms when Hunk opened them.

Lance cried tears of joy while he buried his face in his friend's neck. Hunk squeezed Lance as tight as he could without injuring the smaller boy more.

"Lance, how-- how did you-? Oh, god, I missed you buddy." Lance just continued to cry in response.

He had missed Hunk, too. The two of them had gotten so close in the short amount of time Lance was at that place. Although, a month is longer than most of his stays. It had been about six months ago since they had met.

Finally, they let go of each other. Lance still had tears coming down his face but he was more composed and gave Hunk a genuine smile.

"I didn't know you knew him."

As if just now knowing there were other people in the room, Lance went still. He turned to face Keith and Shiro but kept his head down and folded his hands in front of him.

"I-I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I'm sorry, that was out of line. Please, forgive me! I'm sorry!" Lance felt his body shaking. How could he have done something so stupid? Years of training and discipline and he somehow throws that out the window all because of-- what-- a friend?

"Woah! No! Hey-- it's okay," Keith tried explaining.

"You're fine, Lance! It's okay to go to him," Shiro joined in the assurances.

"Lance..." Hunk slowly turned Lance back towards him. "You're out of that-- that... You're out of  _there_. You don't have to follow their rules no more. Okay? You don't have to ask permission to give me a hug,  _ever_." Hunk stared into Lance's eyes, watching as confusion swept through them.

"Really?" It was so quiet that Keith or Shiro could barely hear. Hunk was quick to give a nod.

As his nerves let up, Lance's knees gave out. He had been so scared he was goin to be punished and to be told he wouldn't even get a smack on the hand? He dropped but Hunk caught him before he hit the ground.

Hunk led Lance to the nearest chair and sat him down. After telling Keith and Shiro that Lance will be fine, he gave Lance a plate of food.

At first, Lance just stared at it. Then ever so slowly he took a bite. "Hunk, your food is as good as ever."

Hunk let out a laugh as Lance giggled. He glanced over at the other two people and his giggles stopped when he saw them staring at him wide-eyed.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.

"Don't ever be sorry for being that damn cute," Keith groaned. Lance flushed a deep red at his statement as Shiro hit Keith's shoulder.

Lance looked down at his plate and continued eating but stopped after eating about a third of the food. He hadn't had that much amount of food in who knows how long.

He handed the plate back to Hunk with a small thanks then was led away to large room up the stairs. Keith walked in ahead and began digging through a drawer.

"You think he'll be able to fit in my clothes," Keith asked. "Lord knows he won't fit in yours."

"Mm, I don't know but you're the closest we got to a fit, so, it'll have to do." With a nod, Keith pulled out sweat pants and went to his closet, Lance figured it was his room.

Upon further inspection, though, he could see that it might be both Shiro and Keith's. Lance should have known the two were a thing with how close they seemed to be.

"I- I don't n-need your clothes..." Lance looked down at his own "clothes." They were dirty and torn but he didn't want to bother them anymore than he has to.

Shiro placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to wear his clothes. Until we buy you your own that is."

"What?" Lance looked up in shock. Why would he buy him clothes? Wasn't Lance supposed to work for something like that? Maybe, he will have to service them for clothes. Well, Hunk said he didn't have to ask and that he was out of that business.

No, that couldn't be right. Could it?

"Here!" Keith's voice shook Lance from his thoughts. He was thrown the sweatpants and a black long-sleeved shirt.

Lance was about to protest again when some one rushed into the room, almost tripping over themselves.

"I heard Lance was here!"

Said person looked over and gasped. "Pidge?"

The person looked up with a watery smile. "Lance!" They ran into Lance, knocking them both to the ground. "Holy fuck, Lance. You're alive and here!"

"Language!"

"Oh, shut it Shiro!" Pidge sniffed and wiped away their tears. "I haven't seen him since you guys got me and Hunk. Let me have my moment!"

Lance lay on his back looking down at the person on top of him. He reached up and wrapped his arms around them in a tight embrace.

"I missed you," he said softly.

"I missed you, too! I'm so happy that you're here. Please, please don't leave me again, Lance, please!"

He just stayed quiet while he hugged them, waiting for their crying to stop. He had some tears come rolling down the sides of his head but for the most part kept quiet.

Eventually, Pidge got up, helping Lance stand and gave him another hug.

"You get dressed! I'll be waiting right outside so me and you can go do something normal. Okay?"

Lance nodded and waited for the three people to leave before undressing himself.

Everything hurt. His ankle was throbbing. His legs were sore from running such a long distance without stopping. His sides ached from the whips that attacked him and his shoulder was stiff.

He was able to get the sweatpants on but couldn't take his shirt off. Reluctantly, he opened the door and peered outside. Pidge's head instantly snapped up and they quickly walked over.

"What's wrong?"

He looked to the side. "I can't take my shirt off... It hurts," he mumbled. Pidge looked back at Shiro and Keith and gave them a smile.

"I got this." They pushed Lance back inside and helped him take off his nasty shirt and put Keith's shirt on. "There, all better." Pidge stepped back and snorted. "I'm sorry but those clothes look really baggy on you."

Lance looked down and smiled. "That's because Keith has more muscle than I do."

The two of them laughed before stepping back outside. Pidge led Lance downstairs once more into an even larger room than Keith and Shiro's.

There were two couches in front of a large flat-screen T.V. and big beanbags on the floor. Hunk came in with two big bowls of pop-corn and sat down on one of the couches.

"I'm assuming we're going to be watching movies, so I made lots of pop-corn for everybody," Hunk said.

Shiro came up behind Lance and gestured ahead. "Go sit anywhere you want."

Lance looked up with glee. "Could I sit on one of the beanbag chairs?"

"Anywhere, Lance."

Lance bounced on his feet before jumping into a blue beanbag. He let his body sink into the material and sighed, closing his eyes. He squeaked when another beanbag chair fell on top of him.

He pushed it off to see Pidge standing above him with a big smile. "I totally forgot how obsessed you are with these. Hunk! Remember when he kept telling us how much he wanted to sit in the one in that little girl's room?"

Hunk and Lance laughed. "Oh, yeah. I remember alright!"

Lance looked up at his two friends with a fond look. Yeah, he really missed those two goofballs.

Soon enough, with Lance and Pidge on beanbags and Hunk, Keith, and Shiro on the couches, they watched movies for the rest of the day.

\-------------

They all must have fallen asleep in the living room, because when Lance woke up in the middle of the night, everyone was still in the same spots.

He had a sudden urge to pee, so he silently got up and walked out into the hallway.

"Where's the bathroom," he mumbled to himself.

He crept along the floors and looked into different rooms. Finally, after a turn or two and several rooms he found what he was looking for.

After using the bathroom, he went to find his way back only to realize he wasn't paying attention to where he came.

He felt his breath pick up but willed himself to calm down. Surely, if he found the bathroom it wouldn't be too hard to find where everyone else is.

With every doorway he looked into and every turn he took, his breathing kept getting harder. He crouched down and held his chest. Where was that stupid room?

He felt his chest constrict and his head pound. He didn't know how long this was happening to him but eventually, he blacked out.

\--------------------

Lance was being shaken when he woke up. He struggled to open his eyes but when he did he saw Hunk's worried face.

"Lance!" He was scooped up into a hug while Hunk continued speaking. "I was so worried when I woke up to find you gone! I thought you left or something bad happened! I-I-I got up to find you, only to see you were laying on the ground!"

Lance just mumbled a sorry and rested his head on Hunk's shoulder.

Hunk pulled back to inspect his friend. "Are you okay? What were you doing on the floor?"

Lance looked down. "I think... I had a panic attack."

Hunk stood up, pulling Lance with him, and began walking back to the living room. When they entered, Pidge shot up and ran to Lance and embraced him.

"You scared the crap out of us," they whisper-yelled. "Where did you go?"

"I had to use the bathroom but..."

"He had a panic attack," Hunk answered for him.

"Oh." Pidge gently took Lance's hand and dragged him over to the sofa that Keith and Shiro weren't on-- who were still asleep.

They made him sit and left to grab a blanket. Hunk sat next to him and put his arm around his shoulder, making Lance lean into him more. "I know it's only about 6:30 in the morning but do you want some..." He stopped to look directly at Lance with a smirk. "Hot chocolate?"

Lance sat up straight with sparkling eyes. "For real," he whispered excitedly. Hunk nodded his head. "Yes! Oh, please Hunk!" He threw his arms around the bigger male and let out a breathy laugh.

Hunk got up and told him he'll be back in about ten to fifteen minutes then left to the kitchen. Pidge ran back into the room not even a minute later with a pile of blankets. They dropped them on the floor and pointed to them.

"Pick anyone your little heart desires and you can keep it."

"What?" Lance raised his voice but lowered it when he saw movement on the other couch. "I can't keep one!"

"Sure you can! Here, just point to the one that you like best and-- boom-- it's yours."

Lance got off from his spot and kneeled in front of the pile of blankets. He grabbed a light blue one that looked and felt really soft, and held it up to Pidge in a questioning manor. They nodded and took the rest of the blankets and left with a big grin on their face.

"Pidge really likes you, huh?" Lance squeaked and jumped up onto his feet when he heard Shiro whisper next to him. "Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Lance held the blanket up to his face and shrugged. "Sorry for waking you."

"You didn't wake me. I usually get up early." Shiro gestured to his partner. "He sleeps like a log so we don't have to be quiet."

Again, Lance shrugs but wraps the blanket around himself when he shivers. It's quiet for another minute before Pidge comes back in.

"Dude! You're getting Hunk to make hot chocolate?" Lance nods slowly. "He makes bomb-ass cocoa!"

"Language."

Pidge leans over and sees Shiro. "Oh, you're awake. Mornin'!"

Shiro chuckles. "Good morning to you, too."

"Anyway!" Pidge turns back to Lance. "Hunk makes fantastic hot chocolate. Sometimes, he'll put cinnamon and whipped cream with marshmallows in it."

"Marshmallows?"

"Do you not know what marshmallows are," Pidge shouted.

"No, I do. It- it's just I never had one before..."

"No. Way." Lance looks down, messing with the corner of the blanket. "Hunk!" They run out into the hall startling Lance. "Put marshmallows in the hot chocolate! Lance needs them! It's an emergency!"

Lance bursts out laughing and Pidge turns around wide-eyed then smiled themselves. "I- I'm sor- sorry but an 'emergency'?" He says after his laughter dies down.

"I'm glad I said that because I don't think I've ever heard you laugh like that before," Pidge says softly. Lance gasps and covers his mouth and looks over at Keith, afraid he had woken him.

His fear was right when he makes eye contact with bluish- purple eyes.

"S-sorry! I shouldn't have been so loud!" He looks down at the floor, playing with the blanket wrapped around him. "I'm sorry."

Lance flinched and shut his eyes when he heard movement from the couch. He jumped when he felt someone grab his arms.

"Lance..." He looked up and saw Keith staring intently at him. "Lance, don't you ever be sorry for being happy. You hear me?" Lance swallowed and nodded slowly. "Good, because I'm going to make sure I get to hear that laugh again and again.

Once more, Keith's words put a blush on Lance's face and Pidge laughed at him. At that moment, Hunk walked in with a tray of five big mugs of cocoa.

"What did I miss?"

"Oh, just Keith not knowing how to put a filter on his mouth and fluster Lance," Pidge said, as if it was obvious and Hunk nodded.

"Like he did yesterday. Okay." The two of them laughed while Lance's face got more red as Keith's had a faint blush.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Make fun of me all you want but I just tell it as it is," Keith stated in a pouty manor and crossed his arms.

He went to grab a cup but Hunk turned away. "Nuh uh! Lance gets one first. But before anyone gets hot chocolate, you have to try a marshmallow first!" Hunk turned to Lance with a marshmallow in his hand, one of those medium sized ones.

Delicately, Lance took it out of his hand and held it up to his mouth. With a little hesitancy, he took a bite out of it.

"Oh my--! This is good," he exclaims. He looks up in awe at Hunk and Pidge and eats the other half.

"Lance." He turns towards Pidge with a questioning gaze. "How would you like to try things you have never had the chance to try, all day today?"

He looked at her in shock then looked at Keith and Shiro in a silent question. They said it was fine so he looked back at his friend.

Lance gave them a smile and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's gonna be a fun time. :) 'Til next time! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Lance, Pidge, and Keith were sat in the beanbag chairs while Hunk and Shiro were on the couch. They had just finished their cocoa when Pidge ran out and came back in with a pad of paper and a pen.

"A list for you," they said.

They only had two things on the list; baking and petting an animal. Not much but who can blame him? He had been living a horrible life that forced him to do things he didn't want and had him not seeing the outside world for years.

Pidge watched as Lance thought harder on what he wanted to do, before they sighed and placed down the paper. "Okay, how about this? We do these two first and we'll suggest things to do and you say whether or not you want to do them. That sound good?" When they got a nod from Lance, they stood up and stretched. "Alright then, you, Hunk, and Keith go into the kitchen and work on baking while me and Shiro go find you an animal to cuddle!" Lance smiled brightly and brought Pidge into a hug.

"Thank you," he said and let go to follow Hunk and Keith to the kitchen.

Pidge turned to Shiro after the others left the room. "Okay, what animal would be good for petting and cuddling?"

Shiro brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "Well, dogs are good but they could be very jumpy... What about a cat?"

"Yeah, we could take him to an animal shelter after lunch-- if he wants-- and can hang out with the cats for a few hours."

"Let's call a shelter first and see if they have any available cats."

"Good idea. 'Kay, let's get callin'," Pidge said as they grabbed their phone.

\--------------

"What do you wanna bake," Hunk asked, looking through cabinets and drawers.

Lance watches for a second before shrugging. "I... I dunno. What's the easiest thing to bake?"

Hunk stands up straight and lifts up a pan. "Cookies?"

"Yeah!"

Hunk began pulling ingredients and tools out while telling Lance what they were. When everything was out the two began with Keith watching silently. Lance really enjoyed making the cookies and it took them a little over twenty minutes to get the first batch into the oven. As they closed the oven, Lance gave Hunk a hug.

"Thank you," he said. Hunk hugged him back, tightly.

"Anytime, Lance. You more than deserve to do something like baking. Especially with what you went through."

Lance pulls back with a slight blush on his face. "Yeah, but, I feel kinda silly. I mean, baking is such a simple thing and I got excited about it." He lets out a hollow laugh. "Who gets excited about baking," he whispers with tears forming in his eyes.

Hunk grabbed his shoulders and looked at him with a strong gaze. "Listen to me. You can get excited about anything because you're only human. You're going to experience anything and everything you want for the first time and if you get happy or excited about it, who can blame you? You have lived a very hard life and I'll be damned if someone tries taking your happiness away again. Do you hear me?"

Lance stared wide-eyed at him for a second before a gentle smile shows itself across his face. "Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Hunk."

"Good. Now, I know you usually do this after all of the dough is gone but..." He gave the spoon with cookie dough on it to Lance. "Here. Eat some of the delicious goodness that only dough can give you!"

Lance looked at the spoon then back at his friend. When he saw him nod his head he ate some dough. "Mm! This is good! I think I like this better than the marshmallow." Lance turns to Keith and skips over to him. "Here! Try it, try it!" Keith flicked his eyes towards Hunk and back to Lance as the spoon was waved again. 

Keith felt his cheeks heat up but opened his mouth. Lance put the tip of the spoon into his mouth and smiled when Keith took some of the dough. He gave the spoon back to Hunk and washed his hands.  The shirt he was wearing was covered in flour and sugar, and he felt guilty. Keith had let him wear it and he got it dirty. He attempted to wipe it off but managed to get it more dirty. He turned to Keith with his head down.

"I- um- I'm sorry," he said. Keith and Hunk looked up at him in confusion.

"What are you sorry about," Hunk asks softly. Lance points to the shirt he's wearing and Hunk lets out a small "oh."

"Your shirt is messed up," Lance whispered towards Keith.

Keith smiles and walks up to him. "Yeah but it's fine. Besides you need to change anyways." He starts leading him out of the room by his elbow. "And I should probably change your bandages."

He's sat down on the bed as soon as they enter the room while Keith goes searching for new clothes. He finds another pair of sweatpants and a grey long-sleeved shirt. He sets them aside and leaves the room with a "hold on" for a second. There is a first-aid in his hands when he comes back. With help, the shirt comes off and Keith is taking and replacing the bandaging. Then Keith cautiously takes the pants off and replaces the bandaging on his legs. Again, with help, Lance gets dressed and is given white fuzzy socks when Keith feels his cold toes.

As they were walking down the hall, Keith had to ask the question that has been on his mind since Lance had ran into them. "Why were you running from those men? What did you do?" It was quiet for a few seconds and Keith was going to apologize when Lance spoke.

"I ran away," he said simply and quietly.

"But why?"

"Because I had to get way from... there," he responded in a small voice and he quickly changed the subject. "You have a pretty large house."

Keith side-eyed him, noting the obvious distraction. "Mm. Shiro's a CEO and I'm an executive manager." Lance nods with a hum.

Hunk was taking out the cookies by the time the two walked back in the kitchen. "Oh, Lance! The cookies are done," Hunk said when he noticed them. Lance smiles and makes his way over to the counter.

"Ooh!" Hunk chuckles and starts putting them on a plate.

"Do you want to finish putting the cookies in or freeze the dough to save for another time?"

Lance thinks for a second before responding. "Later. 'Cause I wanna bake with everyone," he says, missing the warm smiles Hunk and Keith give him. Hunk puts away the rest of the dough and places the dishes in the sink.

"Okay, Lance, let us try your cookies!" Hunk gives a cookie to each of them and takes a bite first followed by Keith. "You know for your first time, this is delicious." Lance beams at that and turns to Keith and giggles when he sees he's already finished with it and grabbed another cookie. He finally takes a bite of his own and hums his approval. He knows it isn't as good as Hunk's but it was still edible.

Lance looks at the two people in front of him and smiles. They were nice people and he hopes he could stay with them for a long, long time. Maybe not in the same house if they didn't want him there but at least never end whatever relationship he has with everyone here. He could tell Keith and Shiro were super nice because they saved Hunk and Pidge from that awful house they were forced to work at.

Hunk was only looking for a simple job for cooking and when he saw that that place needed a chef he was quick to jump at the opportunity. Unfortunately, the job forced him to stay longer according to the contract that Hunk signed without knowing. He had claimed they added to the contract after he signed but he had no way to prove it so he had to stay. 

Pidge went there looking for their brother and the people had tricked them into working there. Lance isn't entirely sure how but he knew it was a bribe of some sort. That was how they had met Hunk. Then Lance came by for a little over a month and became quick friends with them secretly.

He should ask his friends how Keith and Shiro got them out of there later.

How he missed them. That was part of the reason he had escaped; wanting to see his friends at least one more time. The two rays of sunshine in his very dark life. Now he gets to see them whenever he wants and he couldn't be any happier.

"Lance?" Hunk's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "You okay, bud?" Lance smiles and nods, giving him a hug.

"Yeah, Hunk. I'm okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Sorry this took 20 million years. I got a writers block lolol. You could probably actually tell. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! 'Til next time! <3


	4. Chapter 4

“Um…”

Lance was sat in the back of a car with Shiro at the wheel and Keith in the passenger. They’ve been driving for about five minutes in mostly silence and Lance began to be uncomfortable.

“Hm,” Shiro questioned from the front.

“Where, uh, where are Pidge and Hunk..?”

Keith turned in his seat and grinned. “They’re back at home. Hunk’s gonna cook for when we get back and Pidge is looking for their brother. It’s just gonna be us three.” Lance leans back with a nod.

“Is that okay with you,” Shiro asks.

“Ah, yes! It’s fine,” he quickly assures them. They other two nod and it goes back to silence. 

Finally, after what seems like hours, Shiro parks the car in front of a large blue and yellow building. When they reach the double doors, Lance hesitates. It’s scary, okay? It’s scary to finally be able to do something he wants and while he’s free. What if there are people he recognizes there? Oh, God, he shouldn’t have come here.

“Lance?” He looks up to see Shiro and Keith looking at him with worry. “You okay,” Shiro asks. Quickly, Lance nods and gives them a strained smile. “Lemme see your hand.”

Confused, he lifts his left hand up and startles a bit when he sees himself shaking. “Oh.” He drops his hand back down. “I- uh- I don’t know why I’m shaking. Sorry.”

He jerks when he feels Shiro holds his hand and gives a questioning noise in the back of his throat. “To keep you close,” Shiro said with a gentle smile. Lance knew that that wasn’t the reason and that gave him a warm feeling in his chest and he smiled gratefully back.

“Well, c’mon now. Let’s get you a cat to pet,” Keith exclaimed.

Lance visibly beams. “I get to pet a cat?” He knew he was going to pet an animal but no one told him what kind. He watched as Keith smiled guiltily up at Shiro when he scent a glare his way but went back to smiling.

“Yes, Lance, you’ll be petting a cat. It was supposed to be a surprise but…” Shiro trails off, giving a pointed look to Keith who shrugged.

“It’s still a surprise,” Lance said excitedly. “I get to pet a kitty!”

Keith grins and turns to his partner. “Yeah, Shiro. Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go pet a kitty!” He opens the door and leads Shiro and Lance inside. 

They walk up to the lady sitting at the desk and introduces them. She smiles and leads them to the feline area which was incredible. There were three different rooms; one was for quarantined; one was for kittens; the last one was for the older cats. There were platforms for the cats to rest all up and down the walls and little window seats and toys and trinkets littered across the floor. 

There were only two other people here and that calmed Lance’s nerves a bit. He looked around with a little confidence. When the lady left them be Keith turned and gestures for Lance to go ahead. Lance looked between the two men and slowly let go of Shiro’s hand. He slowly went up to the cat room and stopped at the door to look to others to make sure it was okay. He grinned when they nodded and stepped in. He giggled when many of the cats meowed towards him. He crouched down and held his hand out for them to sniff. He looked up to Shiro and Keith in glee when they rubbed up against him and for a bit he sat on the floor playing with them.

Glancing up, Lance saw a grey cat with blue eyes staring down at him from up on a high tower. The cat looked to have just passed the kitten stage but seemed to look at him with such intensity Lance thought she had to have the mind of a wise, older cat. He stood up and, careful of the other animals, walked up to the tower. He stood up on tip-toes and held his hand up to her.

“Hey, pretty kitty,” he whispered. The blue-eyed cat jumped down lower and sniffed his finger. He held his breath as she stared at him. The cat dropped down to eye level with Lance and startled him as she launched himself at him. He yelped as he stumbled back and fell down.

“Lance!” Keith and Shiro flung the door open, scaring the nearby cats. “Are you alrigh-” Shiro was interrupted by Lance’s giggling. The cat sat on his chest, purring and rubbing its face against his cheek. He began petting the soft fur murmuring how cute she was.

He sat himself up, placing the blue-eyed feline down and stood up. He smiled as she rubbed against his leg as he tried to walk away for another cat. “C’mon, kitty-kitty. Lemme walk.” He snorted as she raised herself on her hind legs and stretched up towards his hand. He crouched down to pet her a couple more times and got up to walk again. As he took a step, she walked in between his feet and tripped him. He fell on his knees and blinked when the cat stood in front of him and licked the tip of his nose. 

Keith’s laughter made Lance jump and look up at him. Keith was laughing, leaning on an amused looking Shiro. Keith’s laughter brought a smile to Lance who began giggling. “That cat really likes you,” Shiro mused. 

“Mm.” Lance looked down at the cat with a fond look and scratched behind her ear and giggled as she tilted her head. He kept petting her and cooing at her until he glanced up at the clock. “Ah!” He quickly stood up against the mewls of protest from the grey cat. “I-I’m sorry, I’ve been in here for so long.”

“Nah, it’s fine. You can stay for a bit longer if you’d like,” Keith said but Lance shook his head.

“It’s best if I leave now or I may get too attached to the cat,” he said as he glanced down at the meowing cat by his feet. Keith looked at Shiro then back at Lance.

“If you’re sure,” he said slowly.

Lance tried to ignore the almost desperate sounding cries behind him but it was so, so very hard. With a huff he spun around and picked up the blue-eyed cat and kissed her head and placed her back down, and with a shaky breath walked out the door. He heard the door open again and Shiro and Keith walking up behind him.

“It seems you’ve already got too attached,” Shiro said softly. Lance closed his eyes to hide the fact he was tearing up and shook his head. “Lance…”

With the refusal to answer, Keith sighed. “Shiro,” he whispered. It was quiet for not even a second before Keith practically shouted “yes” and dragged Lance back into the room.

“Keith?” Lance turned red as his name came out in a squeak. 

Keith turned and put his hands on his hips as the same grey cat rubbed up against Lance’s legs. “Pick her up.” When Lance just stared, he repeated himself. Hesitantly, Lance crouched down and brought her into his arms and immediately she began purring, bringing a soft smile to his face. As he stood back up Keith opened the door. “You can keep her.”

Lance froze and looked up at him, hope clear in his eyes. “What,” he breathed out.

Keith grinned. “You. Can. Keep her!” Lance gently put down the cat and walked up to Keith. He felt tears spring in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Keith’s middle and whispered thank you. When he felt how stiff Keith was he began to pull back, panicking, with an apology on the tip of his tongue but breathed in relief when he felt arms wrap around him. They pulled back with a chuckle when they felt the- Lance’s cat rub against them.

With a smile, Lance grabbed her and pretty much skipped out of the room and up to Shiro. “Thank you!” 

“We couldn’t just leave when you looked like that,” Shiro replied, ruffling Lance’s hair. “So, what’ll you name her?”

Lance hummed and looked down at his cat- into her eyes. “Blue? Uh, b-because she has blue eyes and- yeah. Not very original but- I-I dunno,” he rambled nervously. Keith leaned over his shoulder and hummed.

“It’s fitting.” Lance beamed at him as they reached the front. The lady before looked up and smiled at them before her face turned to shock.

“You’re… taking that one,” she asks slowly. Lance curls in on himself and looks down, nodding.

“Am- am I not supposed to…?” The three others could hear the sadness in his voice and Keith glared at the lady.

“Ah, no! No, that’s not it! You can take her! It’s just that-” She looked at the cat purring in Lance’s arms. “Well, we were going to put her into the quarantine room soon.”

Lance brings Blue closer to him. “What? Why?”

The woman shakes her head. “She’s quite, um, mean?” Seeing Lance’s confusion she elaborated. “She usually runs from people and most other cats or hisses at them.”

“She didn’t hiss at him, though,” Shiro said.

Keith scoffs. “In fact, she jumped on him.” The lady seemed pretty surprised but smiled.

“Well, if she likes you and her like her, then why don’t we give her to you officially?” As Shiro signs the papers the woman speaks to Keith and Lance. “Her sisters are actually in quarantine.” 

“Why,” he asked, his voice a little sharper than intended. Keith and Shiro glanced up at him.

“Same reason we were going to put her in there.”

“That’s not right.” Shiro and Keith have their full attention on him now. “Just because they are different doesn’t mean they should be alone. They shouldn’t be kept hidden and trapped.”

The lady looks away for a second. “Well, that’s just the rules.”

“That’s a terrible rule.” Lance looked back at the feline area with a furrowed brow. “How many are quarantined?”

“I believe there are fourteen but only four are in there because of temper issues; the other ten are in there because of sickness.” There was a tense silence for a few seconds before Shiro cleared his throat. He finished paying for the animal and the three finally left. 

When they got in the car, Lance glanced up. “I- um, I’m sorry for being mean.” Shiro nor Keith said anything as they pulled out of the parking lot. Shiro sighed and opened his mouth to speak when Lance sniffled. Shiro looked in the rear view while Keith whipped around in his seat to see Lance with a hand over his mouth and tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “P-please don’t b-b-be mad. J-just say something-g.”

Lance startled when the car suddenly pulled over and Shiro turned as well. “No, no, Lance! It’s okay,” Shiro said “We’re not mad. We aren’t.”

Keith reached in the back and took Lance’s hand away from his mouth. “We were just thinking. We aren’t mad at you.” Lance looked doubtful and wiped at his face with his other hand.

“But I-”

“Lance.” Shiro wiped another tear away. “We aren’t mad.”

“You promise?” It sounded so small and quiet it was almost heartbreaking.

“We promise,” they said at the same time. Lance smiled albeit a little wobbly and held up a pinky.

“Pinky promise?” Keith snorted and hooked his pinky with Lance’s and after Shiro did the same.


End file.
